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Re: EX38-DS4 SATA HDD installation question

Ahh, BIOS update is perfectly safe as long as you do it properly and safely (No Storms, follow directions, ect). It is easy to do, I flash several times a week to various versions testing things, sometimes even to a BIOS that is not for my board :)

Hmm, and so you are sure this fan issue was not present in F3 before? If not, flash back to it, but this time in Qflash disable "Keep DMI Data" and then Clear the CMOS after the flash. If it was a BIOS update or different version that caused the issues, and F3 for sure did not have them then this would ensure that you fully remove all the new stuff and go back to a clean F3.

For RAID drivers please use the Latest Intel Drivers, often Gigabyte is behind a version or two. It really does not matter much though as a version or two doesn't matter to much most of the time, but if you want the latest Intel likely would be where to get it.

Glad to see you are not scared of your PC anymore, nothing to be worried about as long as you read up on things and follow proper procedures. Of course anything can go wrong anytime with systems, but if you follow proper procedures and do things the right way you will likely never have an issue

Re: EX38-DS4 SATA HDD installation question

Originally Posted by Lsdmeasap

Ahh, BIOS update is perfectly safe as long as you do it properly and safely (No Storms, follow directions, ect). It is easy to do, I flash several times a week to various versions testing things, sometimes even to a BIOS that is not for my board :)

Hmm, and so you are sure this fan issue was not present in F3 before? If not, flash back to it, but this time in Qflash disable "Keep DMI Data" and then Clear the CMOS after the flash. If it was a BIOS update or different version that caused the issues, and F3 for sure did not have them then this would ensure that you fully remove all the new stuff and go back to a clean F3.

For RAID drivers please use the Latest Intel Drivers, often Gigabyte is behind a version or two. It really does not matter much though as a version or two doesn't matter to much most of the time, but if you want the latest Intel likely would be where to get it.

Glad to see you are not scared of your PC anymore, nothing to be worried about as long as you read up on things and follow proper procedures. Of course anything can go wrong anytime with systems, but if you follow proper procedures and do things the right way you will likely never have an issue

When looking for the driver to load for RAID 0, do I check Intel for the Intel Matrix Storage Manager that is for my chipset? CPU-Z reports the chipset (Southbridge) as 82801R (ICH9R)

I remember in Speedfan the SYS_FAN2 went to 0 indicating one of my front fans went bad, so I replaced the fan. I can't be certain whether that was before or after the BIOS f6c update. However, from what I see now, the MB is controlling SYS_FAN2 according to temperature even though I have Smart Fan disabled. I also see another fan header being used for another front fan acting weird, not like before. All this could be the MB and not anything to do with BIOS updates. However, I will do what you suggest and clear CMOS to see what happens. I am not certain if there was an option to disable Keep DMI Data, but I will do it if the option is there. I could try it now with BIOS F5 installed before going back to F3, just reinstalling BIOS F5 and following your instructions.

Another thought crossed my mind, suppose I went back to F3 and did all that and it was fine; then the next step would be to try BIOS F5 and do the same thing to see what happens. But, I think trying it with BIOS F5 first would eliminate the BIOS fault if the fan header problem was solved. If it is solved, would you then suggest I try F6c with the same method of disabling Keep DMI Data and clearing CMOS?

CPU_FAN connector needs a CPU cooler with four wires were the PWM modulator is included in the cooler. The mobo senses the CPU temperature and managing the pin 4 signal, the cooler's fan will automatically be increased or decreased, following the CPU temp. Fan's rotation feedback returns via pin 3 for BIOS alarm feature.

SYS_FAN2 connector needs any fan, with three or four wires (don't care) since the speed is controlled via on-board PWM controller that supply pulse-width-modulated 12v for the fan via pin 2.
So, if using a four wire fan, its internal PWM is locked to full speed (this explain that fixed 5v on pin 4).
This time, the mobo senses the North Bridge (in my case the P35) temperature and will increase or decrease the speed of the fan connected in this socket. Feedback is sent to pin 3 for BIOS alarm purposes.

SYS_FAN1 and PWR_FAN are three pin socket with fixed full speed fan. No controlled rotation at all from the mobo. Rotation feedback also monitored via pin 3 only for BIOS alarm purpose.

I always Disable Keep DMI Data, clearing the CMOS is not always needed because the BIOS Flash can sometimes do that as well if you select it to be done by qflash

Re: EX38-DS4 SATA HDD installation question

I have a 3-pin fan connected to all the fan headers. I am not using SpeedFan to control fan speeds, just to monitor fan speeds. I know Speedfan is giving me the correct RPM because verified it in BIOS. I have a front fan connected to Power_Fan 3-pin header and that one also has changed. The only two headers that are working as before are Sys_Fan1 and CPU Fan header. Either the MB has gone wacky or I need to do what you said above. As I recall, Keep DMI was greyed out and DATA was visible.

I will try what you suggested first with F5 BIOS and see what happens. There is definitely something strange going on because SYS_FAN3 (Power Fan header) with front fan is reading much higher than SYS_FAN2 and I have them both controlled via Zalman FanMate 2 and SYS_FAN 3 should read higher--they are both the same type of fan.

I hope it is a BIOS thing, but if it isn't, then it's either live with it or change motherboards, not a pleasant situation either way. So, I am now going to begin the process of screwing up, err, doing what you suggested and hope for the best. If you don't hear from me by tonight, then you know I am in deep trouble.

Re: EX38-DS4 SATA HDD installation question

Success! Although this is not the kind of success I was expecting. I flashed F3 BIOS and did what you said and the fans operate as they did originally. I then flashed F5 BIOS and followed your instructions but the SYS-FAN2 problem was still there. So I went back to F3 BIOS.

The funny thing is, well, two funny things, I couldn't find a jumper to use for clearing CMOS so I used a flat-blade screwdriver. I had jumpers from old PATA drives, DVD and HD but threw them out along with the jumpers! You have no idea how pissed I was when looking for what I should have had. Next, I have done these BIOS Flashes so often that instead of looking at my notes how to configure the BIOS, I already knew the settings from memory and breezed right through the settings. :-))

So, after all this, here I am back to F3 BIOS! What a major disappointment, especially since now I know how to do the BIOS update with no BIOS to update that works as it should.

Re: EX38-DS4 SATA HDD installation question

"I linked only both 32 and 64 bit pre-install drivers, you would install the iastor.inf during OS Install from the OS Type 32/64 you plan to use"

The iaStor.inf is a setup file; iaStor.sys is a system file--and that I know is a driver because I have it installed in system32/drivers that I got from MB CD after installing Intel Matrix Storage Manager and driver. Are you sure about that iaStor.inf?

Re: EX38-DS4 SATA HDD installation question

Originally Posted by JVM

"I linked only both 32 and 64 bit pre-install drivers, you would install the iastor.inf during OS Install from the OS Type 32/64 you plan to use"

The iaStor.inf is a setup file; iaStor.sys is a system file--and that I know is a driver because I have it installed in system32/drivers that I got from MB CD after installing Intel Matrix Storage Manager and driver. Are you sure about that iaStor.inf?

Yes that is the correct file.

Are you tring to add this raid array to a existing OS or going to reinstal windows fresh? If you are doing a fresh install which is suggested use either 32bit or 64bit d/l that LSD posted. Now if your installing Vista or Windows 7 they both should be able to see the array with built in support but its best to have the drivers on the floppy/usb drive just in case windows does not see then but also your using Intels driver not MS.

If your added the raid array as a storage drive like I said I was you could try to see if windows will allow you to install the drivers then make the needed changes in the bios to enable raid and then create your array and boot into windows. If you get a bsod then you will have to reinstall windows.

Like LSD said if you have to select which file for the OS installer to use make sure you Select that file IaStor.inf. That is the raid driver.